Health Farm

-- Staring into deep red light could have a dramatic effect on preventing eyesight decline as we age

Are we looking at the next home-based wellness therapy?

A new study published in The Journal of Gerontology discovered that a few minutes of looking into a deep red light could help slow fading eyesight as we age.

The small pilot study recruited 12 men and 12 women aged between 28 and 72 years.

For two weeks each participant spent three minutes a day looking into a small handheld flashlight that emitted a red light with a wavelength of 670 nanometres (just shy of infrared).

Red light works on both cones (receptor cells that detect colour and work best in well-lit situations) and rods (retina cells that help us see in dim light) in the eye.

Researchers measured cone function in subjects’ eyes by having them identify coloured letters with low contrast. They measured rod sensitivity by asking participants to detect light signals in the dark.

After looking at the red light, participants recorded 14% improvement in the ability to see colours, or cone colour contrast sensitivity.

Participants aged over 40 years showed even greater responsiveness, with cone colour contrast sensitivity rising by 20% over the course of the study. This group also saw significant increases in rod threshold, which corresponds with the ability to see in low light.

If the results are replicated in future studies and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, red light could augur a new era in which millions of people have access to an easy and relatively cheap home-based therapy.